The Gwyneth Jones Cup

I never excelled academically as a child
I was always picked last for games
I never won anything at chess club, for drama
or for music .
I wasn't in the Scouts, so never earned my proficiency badges.
and I was never a prefect.
I rode a horse badly,
I was born too early for judo, and other after school activities,
And I was never awarded a special book at school prize giving

So it is with great pride that I now show off
The Gwyneth Jones cup for " Best Boiled Fruit Cake In Show"
It may be small
To some it was seem insignificant
But to me
It's class!


105 comments:

  1. Congratulations :-)

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  2. Well done that man! I think your penguins should have won something too. Have a lovely weekend.(we are off to doggie agility this morning)

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  3. Anonymous7:40 am

    Well done you and a large elephant stamp. My boiled fruit cake is rather good but not a prize winner. It is years since I made it.

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    Replies
    1. Find a local produce show and give it a go... Does Australia do flower shows?

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  4. A fine trophy. I won 2 brass plaques for public speaking in my teens and a sort of apple-shaped thing for gardening 9 years before I retired from gardening public places. Aesthetically, none compare favorably with the Boiled Fruitcake Cup but I know the feeling of pride you must feel when you contemplate it. Well done.

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    1. Funny we all need adulation sometimes eh?

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  5. Anonymous7:59 am

    Hurrah - you did it at last! Congratulations ! Will you display it in the window for all the world to see?
    Cathy

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    1. Cathy...
      It's now pride of place on the fire mantle

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  6. Go John! well done that man....I bet the cake was wonderful and the cup is well deserved....and the pretty china behind it is also really sweet ..congratulations x

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    Replies
    1. I made it look bigger than it is...it's only three inches high!

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    2. I really think you ought to 'fess up to this in tomorrow's post; it's too funny to risk everyone missing it in the comments!

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  7. Congratulations! If I were you, I'd have a custom glass case made for that trophy.

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  8. This is the one! Hearty congrats. You deserve to be right chuffed.('Insignificant', my foot!)
    All the other wannabe achievements are as nothing compared to this. Dump on them all, I say! (Don't let Winnie read that.) However, do please ensure that your understandable pride doesn't go to your head.

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    Replies
    1. I will be fighting tooth and nail to keep the cup next year

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  9. Many congratulation, I'm sure you will polish it to within an inch of it's life :) As I would, if it was mine.

    Jo in Auckland, NZ

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    Replies
    1. Gwyneth jones was the old lady who lived in the farm along her lane......btw

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  10. Well done...cooking is probably the most important human skill! When I was at school, there were enough in the class for two teams and maybe 4 left over who were sent to go and practise in a corner of the field...I was always one of those. How I prayed for rain, when we did Scottish country dancing in the hall instead!

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    Replies
    1. With your pleated skirt tucked into your knickers no doubt

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    2. Just our navy knickers and gym shirt in the first year! They'd be locked up, these days! PS Your blog would win a prize...most 'real' and humorous too!

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  11. Next stop 'The Great British Bake Off'.... and the winner is JOHN.

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  12. Congrats - would've love to have tasted it... ;)

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  13. Well done John! I guess you were up against dozens of other entrants in this fiercely fought category. You should run round the church parading the trophy singing, "I've won the cup! I've won the cup! Eee aye the addio. I've won the cup!"

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  14. Congratulations, but how can you be 'born too early for judo'?

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    Replies
    1. 1970s.......no after school activities except tv

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    2. That's alright then. Watching the TV is a much more effective form of self-defence than Judo anyway.

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  15. Who'da known you were destined for excellence. Congrats John and I rather like that tea-pot. Deb

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  16. Well done on your first ever cup and your baking of a weird boiled cake. . Do I get anything for my tits, like a rosette to pin on them?

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    Replies
    1. I got a list of telephone numbers for you...do they count?

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    2. Just give me Stephenson's so I can check what night he's washing his hair.

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  17. Well done John! You are never too old to win a prize.
    Have you eaten the cake yet?

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    Replies
    1. Chris has..... He said it was "smashing"

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  18. Anonymous11:24 am

    Is it like the Stanley Cup...do you get your name engraved on it somewhere? It's lovely John....congratulations.

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    1. Yes I will get my name engraved on it... In BIG letters

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  19. I have no idea what a boiled fruitcake is, but congratulations anyway.

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  20. Congratulations, all of your good work is being recognized.

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  21. Everybody is good at something, it's a matter of finding out what it is. In your case its boiled fruit cake and kindness.
    Briony
    x

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    Replies
    1. And knowing boring shit about The Walking dead?

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  22. It's about time someone gave you a trophy. I could list any number of reasons why you deserve one other than the creation of a stellar fruit cake.
    I hope it's not one of those deals in which next year you must hand it off to someone else (assuming you don't just corner the local market on boiled fruitcakes and continue winning year after year).

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    Replies
    1. I will try and win one of the larger cups next year me thinks..I have a taste of victory!

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  23. you might have been a late bloomer, john gray, but what a damned fine flower!

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    Replies
    1. kylie is soooo right. If there were cups handed out for caring, and for making a difference, you would need to hire a hall to hold them all.

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  24. Oh dear...I hope you haven't peaked early! Well done.

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  25. Hearty Congratulations x

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  26. Congratulations! I've never, ever won a shiny trophy. Although I did win a coconut for a spelling test at school.

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  27. Apparently a boiled fruit cake is best a couple of days after it's baked.
    I'll be round then.

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  28. You win our hearts every day, John.

    Congratulations!

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  29. Oh well done you!!
    You couldn't send a slice to us over here in France could you? Just so that we could verify how scrumptious it is...

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    Replies
    1. Ok send me your address and I will send you a slice of the next one !

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  30. It's about time dahling! Make sure it is prominently displayed, like an Oscar!

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  31. Congrats! And don't fool yourself....this blog is proof you are one amazing human being in many many catagories... we read about it daily!!!

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  32. I won the Thespian Cup at my school in 1958 but a lot of water has gone under the bridge since then. Oh, and I was named "Musician of the Year" at my church one year in the 90s. Perhaps you read about it in the Times.

    I am not a cook (my Richard Nixon impression), so I may be mistaken, but I don't think we boil fruitcake in this country.

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    1. Go on!
      Oh btw.... I think we will enter a blogging " award" for best novelty veg in next years show OFFICIALLY,

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    2. I can't wait for that !
      Veg Blog Award

      cheers, parsnip

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    3. Anonymous10:04 pm

      I'll be planning all year on what my next entry will be.

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  33. Nicely done. And if I had a trophy I'd hand it to you for heart and humour - and heart-wrenching posts.

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    Replies
    1. Also, you need some champagne for that cup.

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  34. Well done. You also win many hearts every day.but I know what you mean ,

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  35. Kiddie prizes are mostly meaningless anyway! Now, winning a trophy for cooking as an adult---that's awesome! :)

    And just think how your blog is famous all over the world. That's quite an accomplishment!

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    Replies
    1. I'm still waiting for this year's blog award?

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  36. i was a spectacular non achiever as a child . So I can see this is an occasion...congratulations

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  37. Very handsome trophy, indeed. Congrats!

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  38. A big yeehawww from Tucson, Arizona !

    cheers, parsnip

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  39. Well done. :-)

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    Replies
    1. And well done on the concrete

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    2. .... which was quite a bit harder and much more set than your boiled cake, but no prize winner ;-)

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  40. Brilliant - well done!

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  41. I think that's neat. Well done.

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  42. Well done indeed, John!
    Welcome to the 'majority' as far as 'prizes' go in our childhood.
    You were just 'waiting to unfold' for us!!
    I noticed the teapot set in background.....very pretty. What pattern is that?

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    Replies
    1. It's burleigh ware...circa 1930 it's the butterfly pattern jimbo

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  43. Congrats! I love fruitcake of all kinds.

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  44. Congratulations. I've never won such a prize. Well done, you.

    Love,
    Janie

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    Replies
    1. I bet you have.... Don't you Americans do prize giving at school?

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    2. Some schools do--more now than when I was a child. It's getting so that American kids win awards just for hanging around. I entered a beauty pageant when I was in high school. I won the talent award. I still have my cheap trophy. I never won anything in school.

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  45. A great fruitcake indeed, so you seem (you sure they didn't mean you rather than what you baked?)

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  46. Anonymous11:10 pm

    I like fruitcake. And plum pudding too...can you make that?

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  47. Well done, John! This year the boiled fruitcake, next year - who knows. The world is wide open!

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  48. Well done and well deserved John -- About time!! :-) Now that's two things I've never had, a scotch egg, and a boiled fruitcake....

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  49. Congratulations, John! Now I'm off to google boiled fruitcake.

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  50. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  51. Go immediately to the top of the class and have ten gold stars!

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  52. Pat...I have to add that the up in question is only THREE INCHES HIGH

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  53. Yay. Congratulations.

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  54. Anonymous10:42 pm

    Congratulations John!

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  55. Congratulations!! What the hell is boiled fruitcake?

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  56. Well done and it looks lovely against that pottery collection!
    What is the pottery by the way?

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